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February 18, 20197:21pm

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Federal Election – Tony Abbott vs Zali Steggall1:28

A new challenger has entered the ring to claim the seat of Warringah from conservative liberal Tony Abbott. Former Olympian Zali Steggall hopes to too use a grassroots campaign as an independent candidate for the coveted seat.

Papua New Guinea’s Immigration Minister has issued a bit of a curveball statement, saying the country “has no jurisdiction and decision making authority over awarding contracts to service providers in Manus”.

Petrus Thomas says speculation of PNG government involvement in getting Paladin the contract is “false and misleading”.

The man behind the push for a royal commission into the abuse of people with disabilities, Senator Jordon Steele-John, is still not happy with Scott Morrison.

Mr Steele-John’s motion calling for a royal commission was passed on the voices in the House this afternoon. The government had opposed it in the Senate on Thursday, but this time, did not stand in the way.

“He used a lot of big, kind words, but he failed to say the one thing that we needed to hear from him, which was that he would pick up the phone to state and territory ministers and solicit their report and call the royal commission,” Mr Steele-John said.

“As the Prime Minister was leaving the chamber, I asked him to give us a clear timeline for the taking of those steps, and he said to me: ‘I’ve said what I said’. Prime Minister, that is not good enough.

“The disabled people of Australia, those who watch you in the gallery, deserve more, they deserve better. You must tell us immediately the timeline you intend to contact states and territories. You must call a royal commission.”

The pair’s exchange was captured on camera.

The moment Scott Morrison shook Jordon Steele-John’s hand as he left the House. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

Officials from the Department of Home Affairs have been grilled about the controversial $423 million contract awarded to a company called Paladin to provide security, among other things, on Manus Island.

Media reports have claimed Paladin won the contract despite not having enough money to start it, and despite its founder’s history of bad debts.

“What is reported in the media is in some parts not consistent with the reality of our records,” Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo told a Senate Estimates hearing.

He denied the accusation that the government had paid $10 million to Paladin upfront.

The officials implicitly blamed Papua New Guinea for the situation.

The contract of the company which previously handled security and other services on Manus Island was due to run out on October 31, 2016. PNG initially committed to run the tender process to find a replacement, but then advised Australia it could not proceed because its government was in caretaker mode.

“The department was required to step in and assist PNG with the provision of services,” Mr Pezzullo said.

“PNG changed its mind from saying initially we’ll take care of the centre, we’ll deliver the services, we’ll run the tender.

“We’re not going to let people starve, we’re not going to let people go without food or water.”

Another Home Affairs official, Cheryl-Anne Moy, gave the hearing more detail, saying there was “very little time” for an open tender process and in any case, the department was uncertain how many companies would apply.

“We did not have time for an open tender,” Ms Moy said.

“We weren’t even sure anyone would be in the market to provide the services.

“We talked to the Department of Finance, we talked to the government solicitor, we talked to our external probity adviser and looked at what options we had.

“They provided advice that we could approach an organisation that would be able to deliver the services.”

This led to the department invoking a particular regulation which allowed it to approach a provider — in this case, Paladin — directly.

The officials clarified that their contract was with the Singapore-based company Paladin, not the subsidiary registered to a beach shack at the end of a dirt road on Kangaroo Island.

And they stressed that Peter Dutton had “nothing to do” with the procurement process.

Labor MP Kate Ellis has delivered her valedictory speech in the House, with her husband and children watching on from the gallery.

Ms Ellis, who was first elected as a 26-year-old and quickly became Australia’s youngest ever minister, said she had felt a “great burden” to demonstrate that women could be in parliament and have children at the same time. But she said that burden no longer rested on her alone.

“Rightly or wrongly, I felt an overwhelming pressure that it was up to me to prove that a young woman could succeed here and hopefully make it easier for those who followed,” Ms Ellis said.

“What changed for me is not that I thought I couldn’t be a woman or a mother and do my job but that the pressure lifted.

“One day I looked around me and I just saw this inspiring army of passionate, talented, hardworking women that we have in our caucus. And I knew I could go.”

Josh Frydenberg used a dixer during Question Time to go on an extended riff about Labor’s changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing.

The government has settled on an Abbott-esque slogan — a “big new housing tax”.

“Those opposite have a plan for 200 billion dollars of new taxes, including a big new housing tax,” Mr Frydenberg said.

Labor has vowed to limit negative gearing to newly built homes and halve the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount.

Bill Shorten claims the current government’s policies give investors an unfair advantage over first home buyers, and overwhelmingly benefit people with high incomes.

But the fall in house prices over the last 18 months has threatened to undermine Mr Shorten’s argument.

Mr Frydenberg told parliament he had met with industry groups and heard their concerns about Labor’s policies.

“Today the Prime Minister and the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer and myself, we sat down with the Real Estate Institute of Australia, the Master Builders of Australia, the Property Council of Australia and other experts, and everyone shared their concerns about Labor’s new housing tax,” he said.

“The Master Builders Association said this could cost 32,000 jobs and see 42,000 fewer dwellings being built.

“Under the policy, everyone who owns a home will see it be worth less, and under that policy, everyone who rents a house will end up paying more.”

Tony Abbott took a swing at his rival in Warringah, Zali Steggall, on 2GB this morning.

“The basic point to make is that a vote for an independent is really a vote for Labor,” he said.

“The other thing that I think is unique to Warringah is that the independents there, they don’t have any positive message, apart from some vague waffle about climate. Although I note that my principal opponent says Labor doesn’t go far enough.

“She didn’t vote for the Howard government. She didn’t even vote for the Turnbull government.

“This talk that she’s an economic conservative but a social progressive. No no no no no. She’s left on everything. Simple as that.”

Ms Steggall has responded, saying Mr Abbott has “nothing to offer”.

The usual negativity from Mr Abbott on his open mic 2GB session this morning. He still has nothing to offer and never faces any real questions. Locally, we have $1.5b of investment into large scale solar farms - that's what I support and want to see more of. #whatarewewaitingfor

Kerryn Phelps popped up during Question Time to ask about mortgage broking industry, and whether the changes to it in the wake of the banking royal commission would end up hurting customers.

“With the government’s proposed changes to the broking industry resulting from the royal commission into banking, how can the government ensure that the big banks do not profit while average families and small businesses are once again forced to pay the price of limited competition?” Dr Phelps asked.

“She said she was a Liberal, now she’s talking like a Liberal!” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg joked.

“The Coalition is standing with mortgage brokers against those opposite, who want to disrupt their business model,” he said.

“The reality is, if the mortgage brokers lose their business, the only beneficiaries will be the big banks.”

We are expecting the government to support a royal commission into the abuse of people with disabilities when it comes before the House later today.

That’s a reversal from Thursday last week, when government senators voted against it and Scott Morrison extended Question Time in an apparent attempt to avoid the issue.

“How can the Prime Minister claim has government never opposed a disability royal commission, when every government senator voted against it four days ago?” Bill Shorten asked to start today’s Question Time.

“Will the Prime Minister reverse his government’s position and commit to establishing a royal commission into violence and abuse and neglect of people with a disability before the next election?”

“The government takes the abuse and neglect of those disabilities seriously,” Mr Morrison said.

“At no point as Prime Minister have I said I oppose a royal commission. What I said clearly in the House last week was we would consider this matter clearly, and that matter will come

before the house later today. I expect the motion to be passed.”

He accused Mr Shorten of politicising the issue, and said the government would work methodically to address it in a “well thought out” manner.

Labor’s next question went to Linda Burney.

“Every government senator voted against the disability royal commission just four days ago. Why won’t the Prime Minister just tell the truth and admit he opposed the royal commission?” she asked.

“I was going to thank the member for her question but I specifically made a request to the opposition that they would not seek to engage in partisan politics on support for people with disabilities,” Mr Morrison said.

He said Labor was “obsessed with the politics of the Canberra bubble”.

We finally have answers to the lingering questions about refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi’s arrest in Thailand.

Mr Al-Araibi was detained when he arrived in the country for his honeymoon, after his native country Bahrain got Interpol to issue a red notice — an international arrest warrant which is not supposed to be used for refugees.

For months, we have wondered what role the AFP played in tipping off Thai authorities.

Today Commissioner Andrew Colvin fronted Senate Estimates. He said the AFP had delayed publicly responding to the case until after Mr Al-Araibi had been released.

“There is criticism from some quarters about the length of time it took for the AFP and for me to make a public statement on this matter. This was a decision made in what we thought were the best interests of Mr Al-Araibi,” he said.

“While it did not sit well with my members to be the subject of wrongful speculation about the AFP’s involvement in this matter, the priority was to ensure a safe return to Australia for Mr Al-Araibi.”

The 25-year-old arrived back in Australia to a warm welcome last week, and met with the Prime Minister in Canberra.

Mr Colvin blamed the Department of Home Affairs for the screw-up that led to Mr Al-Araibi being detained, saying the department had not advised the AFP of Mr Al-Araibi’s visa status until after his arrest.

“On 8 November 2018, at the request of Bahrain, Interpol issued a red notice for Mr Al-Araibi, which the AFP conveyed to the Australian Border Force on 9 November. This is a routine process, as many names come on and off Interpol watchlists regularly,” Mr Colvin said.“At this time, neither the AFP nor the Australian Interpol NCB was aware of Mr Al-Araibi’s visa status. This was not known until after his detention in Thailand.

“Neither the AFP nor the Australian Interpol NCB can access visa information. We rely on notifications from the Home Affairs department. The Home Affairs department provided Mr Al-Araibi’s visa status to the AFP on 28 November, the day after his detention in Thailand.”

⁦”Sick joke”: ⁦@TheEconomist⁩ tells the rest of the world what’s really going in Australian politics ... Stirring up hysteria about boat people from legislation which gives a “sliver of mercy” to those on Nauru/Manus needing onshore medical treatment. pic.twitter.com/hceQGRyZ8P

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed the recent cyber attack on parliament was carried out by a “sophisticated state actor” — and the three major parties were also hacked.

The Parliament House computer network was hacked earlier this month, and an investigation has been underway since then.

“During the course of this work, we also became aware that the networks of some political parties — Liberal, Labor and the Nationals — have also been affected,” Mr Morrison told parliament.

“Our security agencies have detected this activity and acted decisively to confront it. They are securing these systems and protecting users.

“Now, I do not propose to go into the detail of these operational matters, but our cyber experts believe that a sophisticated state actor is responsible for this malicious activity.

“Let me be clear though, there is no evidence of any electoral interference.”

This is a big deal. The hackers could have gained access to the emails, polling, election plans and who knows what else of Australia’s biggest political parties, just months out from an election.

Mr Morrison said he had instructed the Australian Cyber Security Centre to be ready to provide any political party of electoral body with immediate support.

“The methods used by malicious actors are constantly evolving and this incident just re-enforces yet again the importance of cyber security as a fundamental part of everyone’s business,” he said.

“The Australian government will continue to take a proactive and co-ordinated approach to protecting Australia’s sovereignty, our economy and our national security.”

Bill Shorten said whatever his differences with Mr Morrison, they shared a commitment to keeping Australia secure.

“Australia is exempt or immune from the kind of malicious activity that we have seen elsewhere,” Mr Shorten said.

“Over the past few years, we have witnessed a range of attempted infiltrations and manipulations in the democratic processes of Germany, Japan, to Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Canada.

“We cannot be complacent and, as this most recent activity reported by the Prime Minister indicates, we are not exempt or immune.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reports hundreds of people whose visas were cancelled after they committed serious crimes are having those cancellations quietly overturned by officials in the Department of Home Affairs.

The report highlights the case of William Sualauvi Betham, whose visa was restored despite the fact he was jailed for more than 10 years over his role in a drug trafficking syndicate.

A man who was reportedly detained with Betham on Christmas Island claims he bragged to him about having connections that would lead to his visa being returned.

Betham’s lawyer told the paper she was “not aware” of any information to support that claim.

“We have got the scandalous Paladin, where they can hand out a contract — Peter Dutton yet again at the centre of an incompetency scandal, handing out $423 million and then saying, ‘It has nothing to do with me, it’s my department.’

“Well, hello, Peter, you are the minister. If it isn’t your department, whose is it?”

.@billshortenmp: This is a govt that is addicted at smearing its political opponents.

Why does a govt, that is so addicted to politics, think it is a good idea to provide information about police raids to select media outlets first.

Tony Abbott has told 2GB’s Ray Hadley that today’s Ipsos poll, which shows Labor’s lead cut to 51-49, is a sign the government can pull off an unlikely election win.

“I don’t want to say I told you so but I’ve been saying for the last three years, the one defining thing between your party and the party that would be government is border protection,” Hadley said.

“Governments that have conviction and character can come back, there’s no doubt about that,” Mr Abbott said.

“What I think we’ve seen from the Prime Minister and his senior ministers over the last few months is conviction and character.

“And I think we’ll see more of that over the next couple of months.”

Mr Abbott took a massive swing at his main opponent in Warringah, former Olympian Zali Steggall — though he never referred to her by name.

“The basic point to make is that a vote for an independent is really a vote for Labor,” he said.

“The other thing that I think is unique to Warringah is that the independents there, they don’t have any positive message, apart from some vague waffle about climate. Although I note that my principal opponent says Labor doesn’t go far enough.

“She’s admitted that she’s never voted Liberal in her life.”

“But she’s portraying herself as a Liberal independent,” Hadley said.

“Absolute rubbish. Complete, absolute tosh,” Mr Abbott shot back.

“She didn’t vote for the Howard government. She didn’t even vote for the Turnbull government.

“This talk that she’s an economic conservative but a social progressive. No no no no no. She’s left on everything. Simple as that.”

There was a lot to unpack from that interview with Jenny Morrison earlier.

The Prime Minister’s wife said she was a normal person who does normal things, downplaying the “glamour” of being Australia’s First Lady — although it must be said, not many normal people get to meet Meghan Markle.

Mrs Morrison spoke warmly of the time she hosted Meghan and Harry at Kirribilli House, shortly after Scott Morrison’s rise to the leadership.

She shared a nice human moment with Meghan, who joked that both of them were getting used to their new roles.

“When I had to greet them from next door and walk them in, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ I said, ‘I haven’t been here long.’ I said, ‘You know, this is all new to me.’

“And she was like, ‘Tell me about it, it’s new for me too.’

“They were so lovely. He is very charming and he’s quite good-looking. Like in real life, he’s got very beautiful eyes.

Over in the House of Representatives, Labor is pressuring the government to vote in favour of a royal commission into the abuse of disabled people.

This argument has carried over from Thursday afternoon, when the government extended Question Time until parliament adjourned — it was the longest Question Time in history, in fact — in an apparent effort to avoid a vote on the issue.

Scott Morrison has since claimed the government would have voted for a royal commission.

“On the weekend, Scott Morrison tried to airbrush history and gloss over last week’s obstruction in the parliament, when he used every trick in the book to deny, delay and defer a royal commission,” Bill Shorten, Tanya Plibersek, Linda Burney and Carol Brown said in a statement this morning.

“He needs to unequivocally get behind this today. This must be voted upon today. We must get a result today.”

Michaelia Cash is technically supposed to represent the Department of Home Affairs in Estimates this morning, but Linda Reynolds is playing that role instead.

“If you don’t like having me here, that is entirely your problem,” Ms Reynolds told Labor shortly after proceedings started.

In Ms Cash’s absence, the AFP has revealed it repeatedly asked both her and Human Services Minister Michael Keenan to give witness statements as part of its investigation into who leaked advance knowledge of its raid of the AWU’s offices to the media.

Both ministers refused, and provided written statements instead.

In the Federal Court last week, we learned Ms Cash’s former media adviser David De Garis — having learned of the raids from her chief of staff Ben Davies — had collaborated with a staffer in Mr Keenan’s office to tip off the media.

Mr De Garis also admitted to deleting text messages.

Today the AFP said it had enough evidence to charge one person after its investigation, which involved 14 officers and more than 60 interviews, but the CDPP decided not to lay charges.

Mr Al-Araibi was detained when he arrived in the country for his honeymoon, after his native country Bahrain got Interpol to issue a red notice — an international arrest warrant which is not supposed to be used for refugees.

There are lingering questions about the role the AFP played in tipping off Thai authorities.

Mr Colvin said the AFP had delayed publicly responding to the case until after Mr Al-Araibi had been released.

“There is criticism from some quarters about the length of time it took for the AFP and for me to make a public statement on this matter. This was a decision made in what we thought were the best interests of Mr Al-Araibi,” he said.

“While it did not sit well with my members to be the subject of wrongful speculation about the AFP’s involvement in this matter, the priority was to ensure a safe return to Australia for Mr Al-Araibi.”

He essentially blamed the Department of Home Affairs for the screw-up, saying it had not advised the AFP of Mr Al-Araibi’s visa status until after his arrest.

“On 8 November 2018, at the request of Bahrain, Interpol issued a red notice for Mr Al-Araibi, which the AFP conveyed to the Australian Border Force on 9 November. This is a routine process, as many names come on and off Interpol watchlists regularly,” Mr Colvin said.“At this time, neither the AFP nor the Australian Interpol NCB was aware of Mr Al-Araibi’s visa status. This was not known until after his detention in Thailand.

“Neither the AFP nor the Australian Interpol NCB can access visa information. We rely on notifications from the Home Affairs department. The Home Affairs department provided Mr Al-Araibi’s visa status to the AFP on 28 November, the day after his detention in Thailand.”

Much of the focus in politics today is on Senate Estimates, where Labor and crossbench senators will grill bureaucrats over a contentious $423 million contract that was awarded to a security contractor on Manus Island.

A company called Paladin, which won the contract through a closed tender process, is reportedly registered to a beach shack at the end of a dirt road on Kangaroo Island.

It was given the tender despite not having enough money to start the contract — and despite its founder’s history of bad debts.

“It’s deeply concerning that we’ve had $423 million of your money going to a company which has got such a poor track record,” Labor senator Penny Wong said.

“I think the very biggest question to be answered is how on earth this tiny, unknown company with no track record ever gets $423 million in contracts from the Australian taxpayer,” Senator Murray Watt told ABC radio.

Peter Dutton’s Home Affairs department will also face scrutiny over its role in the months-long detention of refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi, who was finally released by Thailand last week.

Mr Al-Araibi was arrested when he arrived in the country for his honeymoon.

There are lingering questions about the Australian Federal Police’s role in tipping off Thai authorities.

Mrs Morrison alluded to a tantalising “I told you so” moment with her husband.

“Do you do that thing I’ve seen in interviews with other politicians’ wives where they get a sense about someone, and they go, ‘You wouldn’t trust that person, I’m telling you’?” Nine’s Helen McCabe asked.

“Yes I do,” Mrs Morrison replied, with a knowing chuckle.

“I think it gives you an insight when people are relaxed and they’re talking to you. They can say things that they don’t think people are listening to. I’m a bit of a listener.”

“Have you ever gone, ‘I told you not to trust that person’?” McCabe asked.

“I might have,” she said.

Mrs Morrison revealed she and her husband often disagree, but he “always listens” to her point of view. She is a registered nurse, so can give him a different perspective.

“We disagree on things probably a lot,” she said.

“He doesn’t make policy for me, I can assure you. But he’ll ask me maybe what I think, because I come from a totally different mindset. So he gets a different viewpoint from me, which might be very much a layperson’s viewpoint. And sometimes we’re not always on the same page.”

She said there was a softer side to the Prime Minister the public rarely sees, confirming Mr Morrison had cried about asylum seeker policy.

“That’s true. He’s sensitive about it, so I don’t know whether people, like — I think they have one view of him. But he never took any of those decisions lightly. And it might seem like he’s gung-ho, but you need someone tenacious sometimes to hold the line.”

Mrs Morrison spoke warmly of the time she hosted Harry and Meghan at Kirribilli House.

“When I had to greet them from next door and walk them in, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ I said, ‘I haven’t been here long.’ I said, ‘You know, this is all new to me.’ And she was like, ‘Tell me about it, it’s new for me too.’

“They were so lovely. He is very charming and he’s quite good-looking. Like in real life, he’s got very beautiful eyes.

She admitted she had not predicted her husband’s sudden rise to the leadership, but said he had always had the potential in him.

“I was in shock. I was in total shock. I did not see it coming.

“I always knew Scott was capable of leadership. Not to say he was going to become leader. But he’s always been that kind of person all the way along. He’s strong and confident. People want to follow him. He’s a bit of a natural born leader.”

Finally, Mrs Morrison said life as the Prime Minister’s wife was more normal than many people would think — though she doesn’t see Mr Morrison as often as she’d like.

“I might be the Prime Minister’s wife, but I’m still a mum with two young girls, and I’m trying to keep things as normal as possible,” she said.

“I wake up at a quarter to six and have a shower, and get the kids’ lunch boxes ready, make sure they’re all dressed.

“Then we get in the car by no later than ten past seven. Otherwise it’s just chaos with traffic.

“You just do what you have to do. I think maybe people picture that your life as the wife of the Prime Minister is glamorous and amazing and exciting, but no I’m doing the same thing everyone else does.”

Jenny Morrison has given her first solo interview. Picture: Channel 9Source:Channel 9

The government has recorded its best poll result since former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was rolled.

The latest Ipsos poll, conducted for Nine newspapers, show last week’s bitter debate over refugee policy has been followed by a shift towards the Coalition, leaving it trailing by a margin of just 51-49.

This is starting to look like a trend. Last week’s Newspoll had the gap at 53-47, and before that, an Essential poll registered at 55-45.